Born in Belhaven, North Carolina, she moved to the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York, at a young age. Although some sources claim that her stage name was inspired by a character from the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin, she stated in an interview that she was named after her aunt, which prompted her family to call her "Little Eva." As a teenager, she worked as a maid and earned extra money as a babysitter for songwriters Carole King and Gerry Goffin. It is often claimed that Goffin and King were amused by Boyd's particular dancing style, so they wrote "The Loco-Motion" for her and had her record it as a demo (the record was intended for Dee Dee Sharp).
However, as King said in an interview with NPR and in her "One to One" concert video, they knew she could sing when they met her, and it would be just a matter of time before they would have her record songs they wrote, the most successful being "The Loco-Motion."
Music producer Don Kirshner of Dimension Records was impressed by the song and Boyd's voice and had it released. The song reached #1 in the United States in 1962. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. After the success of "The Loco-Motion," Boyd was stereotyped as a dance-craze singer and was given limited material.
The same year, Goffin and King wrote "He Hit Me (And It Felt Like A Kiss)" (performed by the Crystals) after discovering that Boyd was being regularly beaten by her boyfriend. When they inquired why she tolerated such treatment, Eva replied without batting an eyelid that her boyfriend's actions were motivated by his love for her.
Phil Spector's arrangement of the song was ominous and ambiguous.
It was a brutal song, as any attempt to justify such violence must be, and Spector's arrangement only amplified its savagery, framing Barbara Alston's lone vocal amid a sea of caustic strings and funereal drums, while the backing vocals almost trilled their own belief that the boy had done nothing wrong. In more ironic hands (and a more understanding age), 'He Hit Me' might have passed at least as satire. But Spector showed no sign of appreciating that, nor did he feel any need to. No less than the song's writers, he was not preaching, he was merely documenting.
Boyd's other single recordings were "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby," "Let's Turkey Trot," and a remake of the Bing Crosby standard "Swinging on a Star," recorded with Big Dee Irwin (though Boyd was not credited on the label). Boyd also recorded the song "Makin' With the Magilla" for an episode of the 1964 Hanna-Barbera cartoon series The Magilla Gorilla Show.
She continued to tour and record throughout the sixties, but her commercial potential plummeted after 1964. She retired from the music industry in 1971. She never owned the rights to her recordings. Although the prevailing rumor in the 1970s was that she had received only $50 for "The Loco-Motion," it seems $50 was actually her weekly salary at the time she made her records (an increase of $15 from what Goffin and King had been paying her as nanny). Penniless, she returned with her three young children to North Carolina, where they lived in obscurity.
Interviewed in 1988 after the success of the Kylie Minogue cover version of "The Loco-Motion", Boyd stated that she did not like the new version; however its then-current popularity allowed her to make a comeback in show business.
She returned to live performing with other artists of her era on the cabaret and oldies circuits. She also occasionally recorded new songs.
The only existing footage of Little Eva performing "Loco-Motion" is a small clip from the ABC sixties live show Shindig! where she sang a short version of the clip along with the famous dance steps. She also sang "Let's Turkey Trot" and the Exciters' song "I Want You to Be My Boy" in the same episode. This TV show was one of her final performances until 1988, when she began performing in concerts with Bobby Vee and other singers. In a 1991 Richard Nader concert, she performed "Loco-Motion" and "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby". The concert was partially documented on videotape, albeit of marginal quality.
She continued performing until she was diagnosed with cervical cancer in October 2001. She died on April 10, 2003 in Kinston, North Carolina, at the age of 59, and is buried in a small cemetery in Belhaven, North Carolina. Her gravesite was sparsely marked until July 2008, when a report by WRAL-TV of Raleigh, North Carolina highlighted deteriorating conditions at the cemetery and efforts by the city of Belhaven to have it restored. A simple white cross had marked the site until a new gravestone was unveiled in November of that year. Her new grey gravestone has the image of a steam locomotive prominently engraved on the front and the epitaph reads: "Singing with the Angels".
Keep Your Hands off My Baby
Little Eva Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I let you share what's mine
But when you mess with the boy I love
It's time to draw the line
Keep your hands (keep your hands) off my bay-ee-a-by
I ain't gonna tell you but-a one more time
Oh, keep your hands (keep your hands) off my bay-ee-a-by
Girl, you get it through your head
I don't mind when you lend my clothes
My jewelry and such
But, honey, let's get something straight
There's one thing you don't touch
Keep your hands (keep your hands) off my baby
Girl, you get it through your head
That boy is mine
Keep your hands (keep your hands) off my bay-ee-a-by
I ain't gonna tell you but-a one more time
Oh, keep your hands (keep your hands) off my bay-ee-a-by
Girl, you get it through your head
That boy is mine
(Keep your hands)
Oh, keep your hands (off my) off my baby (bay-ee-a-by )
I ain't gonna tell you twice
(Keep your hands off my)
He's mine (bay-ee-a-by)
Yay, yay, yeah, he's mine
(Keep your hands off my)
You better watch yourself, now (bay-ee-a-by)
"Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" by Little Eva is a song that speaks about the importance of respecting the boundaries set by friendships. The song is about a girl who has a best friend that she has let share everything from clothes to jewelry. However, the friend crosses the line when she tries to flirt with the boy that the singer loves. The singer warns her friend to keep her hands off the love of her life, or risk losing her friendship altogether.
The lyrics in the chorus, "Keep your hands off my baby," emphasize how important the boy is to her and how she will not tolerate any behavior that could interfere with their relationship. The repetition of the phrase, "girl, you get it through your head, that boy is mine," shows how serious she is about the situation. She is not going to tell her friend twice, and the message is clear - her friend needs to back off.
Line by Line Meaning
We've been friends for oh, so long
We have been friends for a very long time
I let you share what's mine
I allowed you to share my things
But when you mess with the boy I love
But if you interfere with the boy I love
It's time to draw the line
I need to set a boundary
Keep your hands (keep your hands) off my bay-ee-a-by
Do not touch my boyfriend
I ain't gonna tell you but-a one more time
I will not repeat myself
Girl, you get it through your head
Understand this clearly
That boy is mine
The boy belongs to me
I don't mind when you lend my clothes
I am okay with you borrowing my clothes
My jewelry and such
My accessories and other similar things
But, honey, let's get something straight
However, let us clarify something
There's one thing you don't touch
There is one thing that you should not touch
(Keep your hands) off my baby
Do not touch my boyfriend
Oh, keep your hands off my bay-ee-a-by
Do not touch my boyfriend
I ain't gonna tell you but-a one more time
I will not repeat myself
He's mine (bay-ee-a-by)
The boy belongs to me
You better watch yourself, now (bay-ee-a-by)
Be careful now
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Tratore
Written by: CAROLE KING, GERRY GOFFIN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@samuelgriffin4167
One of the best songs to come out of that era
@brendapalmer951
music by the great Carole King
@theodore5546
unless your an oldie genius, this is a great song that gets very little attention. Long live little Eva
@coffeeicecream1
Damn fabulous song and great voice for Little Eva!!!! Thanks.
@coffeeicecream1
Damn good song and voice, thank you friend
@sdgakatbk
Well I wouldn't call myself an oldie genius, but I did hear it on a Little Stevens Underground Garage episode a number of years ago.
@shilohbreigh3591
I never heard this! Love it.
@rossmelanson6999
Beatles version #1!!!!
@joyceyolandastorch8964
That was a great song that i think many people forgot about.❤ RIP, Little Eva.
@davidoverholt251
Still one of my all time favorites. Carol King and Gerry Goffin should be proud of the song they wrote for this wonderful young lady. (RIP) Still play the song and love it Little Eva.